"Old Christmas" as you call it is the feast of the Epiphany, twelve days after Christmas. This is the day when the Church celebrates the Coming of the Magi, the Wise Men. The 5th January is known as 12th Night, and in some cultures is a time of feasting and celebration (c.f. Shakespeare's play of that name). In some cultures it is also the day when presents are given rather than on Christmas day. The fact that it is being called old Christmas may be because of confusion with the Old New Year. Under the Calendar Act of 1751 12 days were taken from the Calendar so that the Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar. As well as loosing 12 days the 3rd of September became 14th, the beginning of the year was moved in England from 15th March to 1st January. Scotland had had the New Year as January 1st from I think 1600. Therefore when the days were lost "Old New Year" came into being on 12th January. The only place where I have experienced this is Loch Fyneside where they keep both New Years. The confusion would come from two sources - the non liturgical nature of Presbyterianism would mean that Epiphany probably wasn't celebrated and the confusion under the Calendar act, for of course America was a colony when the change was made. Hope that this helps Edward Andrews -----Original Message----- From: Lee Ramsey [mailto:lee.ramsey@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 5:15 PM To: Scotch-Irish-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [Sc-Ir] Scotch-Irish Christmas Traditions This Christmas folkways is most likely the extention of the "Old Christmas" from the boarder lands of Scotland and Northern England. "Old Christmas" was originally celebrated on January 6th. with a feast, bonfires, gunplay and fireworks. This custom continued in the Appalachia and the highlands of North Carolina as well. The January 6th date was traditional believed to be the real Christmas as the birth day of Christ. Lee Ramsey http://www.1n5free.com